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Prince Albert National Park
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Prince Albert National Park
Prince Albert National Park encompasses 3,874 square kilometres (1,496 mi2) in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Saskatoon. Though declared a national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't performed by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King until August 10, 1928. This park is open all year but the most visited period is from May to September. Although named for the city of Prince Albert, the park's main entrance is actually 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of that city via Highways 2 and 263, which enters the park at its southeast corner. Two additional secondary highways enter the park, Highway 264, which branches off Highway 2 just east of the Waskesiu townsite, and Highway 240, which enters the park from the south and links with 263 just outside the entry fee-collection gates. Prince Albert National Park is not located within any rural municipality, and is politically separate from the adjacent Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD). Until the establishment of Grasslands National Park in 1981, it was the province's only national park.
The hamlet of Waskesiu Lake is the only community within the park and it is located on the southern shore of Waskesiu Lake. Most facilities and services one would expect to find in a multi-use park are available there, such as shopping, fuel, and lodging.
About 90% of the park is in the Waskesiu Hills and elevations range from 488 metres (1,601 ft) on the western side to 724 metres (2,375 ft) on the eastern side. There are several large lakes in the park, including Waskesiu, Kingsmere, and Crean, and several notable rivers have their source there, such as Spruce, Sturgeon, and Smoothstone.
The park's development as a recreation destination has led to the region immediately south-east of the park boundaries – locations such as Christopher Lake, Emma Lake, Sunnyside Beach, and Anglin Lake, themselves becoming popular recreation destinations. Additional development has taken place just beyond the park's eastern entry.
Prince Albert National Park represents the southern boreal forest region of Canada. It is a rolling, mostly forested landscape that takes in the drainage divide between the North Saskatchewan and Churchill Rivers. The boreal forest extends northerly into the Canadian Shield area from the agricultural zones of southern Canada. Prince Albert National Park lies south of the Shield in landscapes that were shaped by Pleistocene glaciers that deposited glacial till, sand and other materials that were later colonized by trees and shrubs.
Most of the park is dominated by coniferous forests, with the cover of jack pine and white spruce becoming more prevalent the farther north one goes. The very southern part of the park is predominantly aspen forest with an understorey of elderberry, honeysuckle, rose, and other shrubs and openings and meadows of fescue grassland. The fescue grasslands are considered ecologically important because of their rarity; outside the park, most of the native fescue grasslands have been lost to the plough or to urban development.
Some of the many animals are elk, moose, red foxes, beavers, white-tailed deer, badgers, river otters, red squirrels, black bears, coyotes, and timber wolves. The aspen forest/meadow mosaic in the south-west corner of the park is particularly unique as it sustains a growing herd of more than 400 plains bison, the only free-ranging herd in its original range in Canada that has a full array of native predators, including timber wolves. Boreal woodland caribou from a regional population that is declining due to loss of habitat to forest logging range sometimes into the park, but their core habitat lies outside the park to the north. White-tailed deer, elk, and moose are the common ungulates. Flycatchers, Tennessee warblers, double-crested cormorants, red-necked grebes, brown creepers, nuthatches, three-toed woodpeckers, bald eagles, osprey, great blue herons, many species of ducks, and the common loon are just a few of the water fowl and birds which make their home in the park. There are 21 species of fish recorded in the park, including Iowa darter, yellow perch, brook stickleback, spottail shiner, cisco, northern pike (locally called "jack fish"), walleye (locally called "pickerel"), and lake trout. Although most people visit the park in summer, the best wildlife watching is often in the winter.
The park is noted for its numerous lakes including three very large lakes — Waskesiu, Kingsmere, and Crean. The water quality is high and fish populations robust, except for lake trout that were commercially fished to near-extinction in Crean Lake in the early 20th century and, in spite of protection, have yet to recover their former numbers. Northern pike, walleye, suckers, and lake whitefish are among the most common larger fish. One of Canada's largest white pelican colonies nests in an area closed to public use on Lavallée Lake in the north-west corner of the park, and pelicans, loons, mergansers, ospreys, and bald eagles are common in summer. Otters are seen regularly, year round. Winter is an especially good time to find otters as they spend considerable time around patches of open water on the Waskesiu Lake Narrows and the Kingsmere and Waskesiu Rivers.
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Prince Albert National Park
Prince Albert National Park encompasses 3,874 square kilometres (1,496 mi2) in central Saskatchewan, Canada and is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Saskatoon. Though declared a national park March 24, 1927, official opening ceremonies weren't performed by Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King until August 10, 1928. This park is open all year but the most visited period is from May to September. Although named for the city of Prince Albert, the park's main entrance is actually 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of that city via Highways 2 and 263, which enters the park at its southeast corner. Two additional secondary highways enter the park, Highway 264, which branches off Highway 2 just east of the Waskesiu townsite, and Highway 240, which enters the park from the south and links with 263 just outside the entry fee-collection gates. Prince Albert National Park is not located within any rural municipality, and is politically separate from the adjacent Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD). Until the establishment of Grasslands National Park in 1981, it was the province's only national park.
The hamlet of Waskesiu Lake is the only community within the park and it is located on the southern shore of Waskesiu Lake. Most facilities and services one would expect to find in a multi-use park are available there, such as shopping, fuel, and lodging.
About 90% of the park is in the Waskesiu Hills and elevations range from 488 metres (1,601 ft) on the western side to 724 metres (2,375 ft) on the eastern side. There are several large lakes in the park, including Waskesiu, Kingsmere, and Crean, and several notable rivers have their source there, such as Spruce, Sturgeon, and Smoothstone.
The park's development as a recreation destination has led to the region immediately south-east of the park boundaries – locations such as Christopher Lake, Emma Lake, Sunnyside Beach, and Anglin Lake, themselves becoming popular recreation destinations. Additional development has taken place just beyond the park's eastern entry.
Prince Albert National Park represents the southern boreal forest region of Canada. It is a rolling, mostly forested landscape that takes in the drainage divide between the North Saskatchewan and Churchill Rivers. The boreal forest extends northerly into the Canadian Shield area from the agricultural zones of southern Canada. Prince Albert National Park lies south of the Shield in landscapes that were shaped by Pleistocene glaciers that deposited glacial till, sand and other materials that were later colonized by trees and shrubs.
Most of the park is dominated by coniferous forests, with the cover of jack pine and white spruce becoming more prevalent the farther north one goes. The very southern part of the park is predominantly aspen forest with an understorey of elderberry, honeysuckle, rose, and other shrubs and openings and meadows of fescue grassland. The fescue grasslands are considered ecologically important because of their rarity; outside the park, most of the native fescue grasslands have been lost to the plough or to urban development.
Some of the many animals are elk, moose, red foxes, beavers, white-tailed deer, badgers, river otters, red squirrels, black bears, coyotes, and timber wolves. The aspen forest/meadow mosaic in the south-west corner of the park is particularly unique as it sustains a growing herd of more than 400 plains bison, the only free-ranging herd in its original range in Canada that has a full array of native predators, including timber wolves. Boreal woodland caribou from a regional population that is declining due to loss of habitat to forest logging range sometimes into the park, but their core habitat lies outside the park to the north. White-tailed deer, elk, and moose are the common ungulates. Flycatchers, Tennessee warblers, double-crested cormorants, red-necked grebes, brown creepers, nuthatches, three-toed woodpeckers, bald eagles, osprey, great blue herons, many species of ducks, and the common loon are just a few of the water fowl and birds which make their home in the park. There are 21 species of fish recorded in the park, including Iowa darter, yellow perch, brook stickleback, spottail shiner, cisco, northern pike (locally called "jack fish"), walleye (locally called "pickerel"), and lake trout. Although most people visit the park in summer, the best wildlife watching is often in the winter.
The park is noted for its numerous lakes including three very large lakes — Waskesiu, Kingsmere, and Crean. The water quality is high and fish populations robust, except for lake trout that were commercially fished to near-extinction in Crean Lake in the early 20th century and, in spite of protection, have yet to recover their former numbers. Northern pike, walleye, suckers, and lake whitefish are among the most common larger fish. One of Canada's largest white pelican colonies nests in an area closed to public use on Lavallée Lake in the north-west corner of the park, and pelicans, loons, mergansers, ospreys, and bald eagles are common in summer. Otters are seen regularly, year round. Winter is an especially good time to find otters as they spend considerable time around patches of open water on the Waskesiu Lake Narrows and the Kingsmere and Waskesiu Rivers.
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